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Joseph W.
"Jody" Hess, a carpenter from the small community of
Plymouth Utah, came to the City of Malad around 1914 - 1915.
Starting out as a farmer here, the Plymouth carpenter soon
discovered that building was more his trade and switched to
contracting.
He began by buying his lumber by the carload for
his work. His main job was making crates to ship cans of
Crowther Milling Co. flour around the country.
Mr. Hess received so many requests for lumber from
local residents, that in 1935 he opened J. W. Hess Lumber Co. at
385 N. 400 W.
At that time, he brought in his brother Loyal to
assist in the growing contracting business. When J. W.'s
sons, Melvin and Richard, finished their military service in
1946, they returned to Malad to take over the business.
Several years later Orvel and Earl joined the firm.
Melvin, Richard and Orvel branched out and became
contractors. They formed Hess Brothers Construction
Company and Hess Ready Mix. The brothers kept busy pouring
cement and building homes and businesses in Malad and throughout
the surrounding area. Earl was busy managing J.W. Hess
Lumber Co.
In 1968, when the Boise Cascade lumber store went
out of business, Hess Brothers bought the stock from Boise
Cascade and moved into town to its present location at 48
Bannock Street.
In 1976 Earl Hess resigned after 20 years of
managing the store. Their uncle, Loyal
Hess, then managed the store until 1978, when Wayne Kent took
over the management. Jaared Crowther, Melvin's son-in-law,
has been the manager since 1980.
In 1992, Jared and his wife Ronda, started buying
the shares of the business from the brothers and are the present
owners. With their son Doug, a great-grandson of Joseph
W., following in their footsteps; this will soon become a
four-generation business.
Hess Lumber is celebrating it's 65th year of business and has
bigger and better plans for the future. This summer the
yard has undergone some major remodeling. Two new lumber
storage covers have been built, as well as a new metal
fence. An old storage barn was removed from the premises,
and new fencing put up in back.
The Crowthers would like to thank the community of
Malad for it's support. They and the employees of Hess
Lumber Co., are looking forward to serving you. |
